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Pollux was a city with a particularly high proportion of foreigners among the free cities. Perhaps because of this, foreigners with eyes the color of sparkling jewels were strolling the streets, chattering in their respective languages.
Low buildings of unique architectural styles lined the sidewalks. Nox looked around and took off his sunglasses.
The two waited for a bus heading out of the city and boarded it.
Yoon Tae-ha boarded the articulated bus, which consisted of two carriages, and sat in the very back row. Nox took a seat one row ahead. None of the passengers on the bus stared at him curiously. Soon, the taciturn driver started the bus.
________________________________________
The aimless and unsettling journey ended.
The bus’s final stop was a peaceful rural village. Seven other people, besides Nox and Yoon Tae-ha, disembarked at the terminus. The bus driver moved the vehicle to a large gas station across from the terminus.
Next to the gas station was a respectable car rental office, out of place with the village’s atmosphere. The people who had arrived on the same bus as them immediately began running towards the gas station and the rental office without hesitation.
“Wait.”
Realizing what they needed to do next from their hurried movements, Yoon Tae-ha left Nox at the bus stop and ran to the rental office. Running lightly and quickly like a feather, she rented the fastest and most durable car remaining at the office.
As she drove the car up to Nox, he loaded his luggage into the back seat and got into the passenger seat.
She drove alone, not handing over the steering wheel. Nox seemed to be holding up well for a while, then suddenly fell asleep. Remembering his cloak, which was so tattered it would make the floor apologize if used as a rag, Yoon Tae-ha drove smoothly.
Soon, abandoned vineyards and wineries appeared beyond the horizon. Around that time, Nox also woke up. Yoon Tae-ha stopped the car at the entrance of a field planted with forget-me-nots.
“If the car goes in, the flowers will be damaged.”
“We’ll walk.”
Long, thin clouds drifted lazily across the sky, carried by the wind. Yoon Tae-ha moved unhesitatingly through the flower field towards the house where Raphael had last stayed.
The closer she got, the more her mood subtly sank, becoming calm. A faded red roof. Peeling white paint. Small orange flowers hung like candies from the vines that had climbed up from the base of the wall. It was a simple and lovely house.
Nox, who had finished his inspection by placing his palm on the ground, said, “No special magic is cast.”
The front door of the house had a black doorknob shaped like a lion’s open mouth. Yoon Tae-ha leaned her shoulder against the door, turned the doorknob, and pushed with force. The locked door opened easily.
“Dusty smell... Doesn’t seem like anyone’s lived here for a while,” she murmured, stepping inside the building. Furniture covered in white dust and cobwebs hanging from the window welcomed her. Yoon Tae-ha immediately headed to the place where Raphael had hidden the belongings.
She used psychokinesis to move the bed under the window and pried up the wooden floor, revealing a locked box. Nox, who had approached from behind, quietly looked down at the box and concluded,
“It doesn’t seem like something that can be opened with magic.”
Yoon Tae-ha, as if possessed, ran her hand over the surface of the box.
“Of course not. This is just a puzzle. I did a lot of them when I was little. A normal puzzle that Teacher and I often did.”
As Yoon Tae-ha solved the puzzle on the surface, the box opened on both sides with a click. Nox made a sound with his feet as if to leave.
“You don’t need to check?”
“There seems to be no need. I’ll be nearby.”
Nox disappeared out the door. The fresh scent of flowers wafted in from the open doorway. Yoon Tae-ha felt energized by the fragrance and spread the items from the box onto the floor.
There were only a few belongings. A storage device that clearly seemed to contain important information, a velvet jewelry box, and a letter tightly wrapped in plastic. A letter. Left to her by Hyeon Yi-jeong. Now, Yoon Tae-ha felt a shiver close to terror.
Do I really want to see this?
Hyeon Yi-jeong’s request, though greatly misguided, to give it to her when the child grew up, had been fulfilled. So she had to read it. Because it was her wish.
Yoon Tae-ha, who had been kneeling on the dusty floor, suddenly, as if enchanted, peeled off the plastic. Then, with trembling hands, she carefully unfolded the letter, which still looked new.
<“Tae-ha, my daughter.”>
Her throat choked up from the first sentence. Yoon Tae-ha, wiping her still dry eyes with her shoulder, slowly read the words. Hyeon Yi-jeong first revealed that she had made a huge mistake and that her daughter was now in danger because of it.
<“...I trusted my father, and I thought he loved me as much as I loved him. When I held you in my arms with your heart stopped, all I wanted to do was escape that situation. The time I waited for you was so precious and brilliant, incomparable to anything in life, that accepting your disappearance felt like all the lights in the world had gone out.”>
The desperation of the woman who had screamed at Yoon Jung-hoon was not felt in the letter. Every word contained an effort to show only the most refined language. She had tried not to give Yoon Tae-ha any room to blame herself.
<“When I met you in Seoul, my mind was completely captivated by you, my child. Would my child have looked like this if she were alive? I thought of you all day long. You resembled your father so much. My father blinded me with Gaia, but he couldn’t hide the soul that sparkled in your eyes. That was a piece of the person I loved, and it was the compass that moved me.”>
Why can’t I remember all the time I spent with her? There must have been many joyful moments.
She was sure that if she could just confirm again how she had looked at her, it would be a great comfort now that she had nowhere to lean on. Yoon Tae-ha bit her trembling lips. Towards the end, Hyeon Yi-jeong’s letter began to warn about Yoon Jung-hoon.
<“There’s no limit to what he can do. You’ll see that from the Galatea Project alone. I lost my daughter before my eyes, and I put my friend’s son in danger. I wonder if that child is still living under the same name. You and that child were Yoon Jung-hoon’s top priority observation subjects, a pair of male and female. His name is...”>
“Cheon Geon-yeong.”
The name, spoken after a long time, felt unfamiliar. The letter also mentioned the names of Cheon Seo-wan and his wife. A request to seek them out if she ever needed help. And a sentence that Cheon Geon-yeong’s mother and she were close friends, implying they would genuinely care for Yoon Tae-ha, made her heart heavy.
But they died around the same time as Hyeon Yi-jeong. Had she not anticipated that? Did she believe Chairman Cheon could protect his son? Or did she simply conclude that Yoon Jung-hoon had no reason to kill Chairman Cheon’s family?
<“...I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you that no matter what happens, you’ll be safe and everything will be alright. But you were the greatest blessing to me at every moment. I love you enough to sacrifice my life without regret. You’ve worked hard to get this far.”>
As she read the last paragraph, tears leaked out before she could even wipe them. Yoon Tae-ha quickly wiped the tears away with the back of her hand before they reached her chin, then quickly looked at the open door. Thankfully, Nox wasn’t there.
Yoon Tae-ha searched for a safe place to keep the letter, then carefully slipped it into the inner pocket of the vest she was wearing. It was just a few thin sheets of paper, but the left side of the vest seemed to bulge significantly.
Gathering the rest of the belongings, she stepped out of the house to find Nox. He was standing on the narrow path through the flower field. Nox, who had been touching the soil, noticed Yoon Tae-ha come out of the house and dusted off his hands.
“This is valuable land.”
“All land is valuable.”
“I mean, this land is worth far more than you can imagine. And these flowers were cultivated by someone with a purpose.”
“Are they perhaps plants from your world?”
Nox nodded. “They are a modified species to adapt and live on this planet’s soil, but they are familiar flowers to me.”
Yoon Tae-ha walked into the flower field, knelt down, and met the small blossoms at eye level. The fresh scent of flowers filled the air all around.
“There are monsters that, after dying, pollute the land with their blood and flesh. This planet’s soil is not immune to their blood and is easily damaged. These flowers seem to have the power to revive such dead land.”
“That would fetch a good price.”
“To cultivate these, one must first change the properties of the soil. It’s a demanding and time-consuming process. I didn’t know anyone had succeeded.”
“Perhaps the owner of the flower field also owns that house?”
Yoon Tae-ha pointed her finger at the red-roofed house. Following her fingertip, Nox’s gaze suddenly sharpened.
“An enemy?”
Even with the momentary change in his gaze, Yoon Tae-ha reacted keenly. Standing up, she spotted a black car approaching from a distance.
The two moved away from the flower field. The unfamiliar car stopped where it wouldn’t harm the flowers.
The next moment, the man who got out of the driver’s seat held up both hands to show he had no intention of attacking and spoke rapidly.
“I’m not a psychic. Nor will I attack you.”
“What is it?”
The man walked past Nox and fixed his gaze on Yoon Tae-ha.
“Ms. Yoon Tae-ha.”
She walked a few steps forward, then stopped.
“My employer, Ms. Jeon Ye-rim, is looking for you.”
Nox looked at Yoon Tae-ha, as if expecting an explanation. She was flustered.
“She’s my adoptive mother on paper. Yoon Jung-hoon adopted me out to her,” Yoon Tae-ha whispered softly, so only he could hear, and approached the man. The man respectfully clasped his hands in front of him.
“You’ll also hear your father’s name there. It’s what Ms. Yoon Seo-hyun wished for. You are welcome to come with the gentleman next to you. We’ll take care of your luggage separately.”
Two mothers were calling her. Yoon Tae-ha wanted to go. Nox, as if reading her mind, walked towards the car the man had driven. She got into the car belatedly.
The car carrying them sped along the peaceful country road.
“The house and flower field you were just looking at are currently owned by Ms. Jeon Ye-rim. But as soon as the situation is resolved, they will become Ms. Yoon Tae-ha’s property,” the man said while driving. Yoon Tae-ha didn’t know how to react and remained silent. To think that an opportunity to acquire property would come after officially being declared dead. It was ironic.
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